Don't like worms?

I finally was able to find live red wiggler worms for my Axolotls. The problem is, they don't like them. When they see it moving, they slurp it up. Then they spit it right back out. The worm pieces (I have cut them up) lie on the bottom of the tank, writhing, and the axi's swim away from them. The lotls eat pellets quite well, and of course blood worms. But they have no love for the worms. Is this normal? Should I keep trying?

Additionally, two of my lotls seem to have stunted growth. They eat, but not as much as the others. They were all the same size when I got them. Now, these two are a good inch smaller than the others.

Right now they are all (7) in a 40 gallon tank. All seem active and happy. My plan was to move them into gender specific tanks as they grew. But I wonder if I should go ahead and move these mini guys out, so they are not bullied? I haven't seen any bullying, mind you. In fact, they are usually all together in an axolotl pile. I would rather not move them, as the tank they are in is in the room I'm able to cool the most, so the water stays around 68. I'm worried in another room, the water would get too warm.

Red wrigglers have a very bitter smell and taste so some salamanders wont eat them. They can sometimes be 'trained' to accept them, but if you have no problems feeding pellets as a staple I wouldn't bother with the wrigglers, just stick to high quality amphibian or carnivorous fish pellets and they should stay just as healthy as they would on a diet of worms.

Thank you, Chinadog. That's a huge relief. One or two will eat worms on occasion. Most won't, and none of them eat them all the time. They scarf the pellets. I was hoping to switch them to worms, as the pellets make the water so dirty.

Where do people get the glass plates to feed them? My Axolotls can't seem to find food in a bowl.

Maybe I just have short bus axolotls?!

If you still want to feed them worms you need to look for 'Canadian nightcrawlers'. I'm not sure how easy it is to find them in the US, but they should eat those with no problems at all.

Ha! I passed up lots of those, insisting they were way too big and I had to have red wigglers. Oh well, my garden will be happy with the bonus worms.

If the pellets foul the water, you might try the jar method - I use them for worms, but it should work for pellets. Put the pellets in a jar in the water on its side. The animals will go in there to eat and what ever is left over, you can take the jar out and the leftovers will come too and not foul the water.

Canadian or European Nightcrawlers would work great. My axies cant get enough of them

They were not impressed by Canadian night crawlers. So, just pellets for now.

Nothing I've tried keeps the water from being gross, so I just invested in a canister filter. Hope that will help!

Red wigglers produce a bitter yellow slime when disturbed. I put them in a strainer, cut them in pieces with scissors, and rinse them under cool water for a couple of minutes. My axies will eat them, but often leave some behind.

I find my juvie axies prefer the pellets and bloodworms, but I still offer them worms a couple of times a week hoping they'll get to like them better.

I'm from Canada and have never heard of Canadian nightcrawlers. I'll have to get some for my axies to try!

Funny. Maybe "Canadian night crawlers" are like "French fries"?